Who your club selected in past drafts with picks it has in 2017

RICHMOND could have the best hand in the draft based on its history with picks 52 and 55, and Geelong is a pick 24 specialist. Who has your club recruited in the past with the picks it has this year?

Al Paton

7 min read

November 13, 2017 - 5:02PM

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HAS Richmond got the best hand in the draft?

The Tigers don’t have a pick in the top 10 but based on their history with two selections in the 50s they have at next week’s event, fans can be confident there will be some talent headed to Punt Rd.

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Remarkably, the Tigers have used picks 53 and 55 nine times in draft history and selected players including former skipper Chris Newman, best-and-fairest winner Dan Jackson and the talented but injury-cursed Mark Dragicevic.

But the best of the lot was just 12 months ago, when Richmond had pick 53 and used it on South Australian under-18 captain Jack Graham. Eleven months later he is a premiership hero.

Geelong fans, meanwhile, will also be happy to go into the draft with pick 24, given the two times they have used it in the past the recruits were Steve Johnson and David Wojcinski, who combined for 456 games and four premierships.

West Coast has seven picks in this year’s draft and has used every one of them (including pick 83) at least once in the past while the Bulldogs have used only one of the three picks they hold this year in the 31 previous drafts.

Scroll down for a quick review of your club’s draft history with its 2017 picks.

ADELAIDE

Pick 12 — 2001: Brent Reilly

Pick 39 — Not previously used

Pick 75 — 1998: Ken McGregor, 2007: Taylor Walker, 2016: Ben Davis

Pick 94 — Not previously used

Reilly gets a big tick for 203 games until a severe head knock at training ended his career, but the pick of the bunch is Tex who arrived via a NSW scholarship pick.

Taylor Walker was a steal at pick 75 in the 2007 draft. Can the Crows do it again this year?

BRISBANE LIONS

Pick 1 — 1998: Des Headland

Pick 15 — Not previously used

Pick 18 — 2004: Cameron Wood, 2003: Llane Spaanderman

Pick 40 — Not previously used

Pick 44 — 1999: Shane Morrison, 2002: Anthony Corrie, 2014: Liam Dawson

Pick 52 — 2007: Bradd Dalziell

The Lions have pick 1 for just the second time. In 1998 they picked up Des Headland who was briefly part of Brisbane’s superstar midfield before leaving for Fremantle. Cameron Wood ended up playing for Collingwood and Carlton (and appearing on game show The Chase Australia) and while Spanderman played only one senior game, he still has one of footy’s great names.

CARLTON

Pick 3 — Not previously used

Pick 10 — 2015: Harry McKay

Pick 30 — Not previously used

Pick 72 — 2003 Adrian Deluca, 2002: Brad Fisher, 2009 Sam Jacobs (rookie promotion)

Pick 95 — Not previously used

Pick 96 — Not previously used

Not much action from the Blues’ six picks. Harry McKay showed glimpses of his talent in two matches in 2017 and Brad Fisher was a good pick in 2002 when Carlton was decimated by penalties for salary cap breaches.

COLLINGWOOD

Pick 6 — 2013: Matt Scharenberg

Pick 38 — 2012: Jackson Ramsay

Pick 56 — 1989: Shayne Bennett, 1997: Ben Kinnear

Pick 61 — 1994: Stephan Zavalas, 2007: Jaxson Barham

Not a lot for Pies recruiters to hang their hats on here, although we hope Scharenberg can still become a gun after injuries ruined the early stage of his career. Jackson Ramsay was delisted two weeks ago, Ben Kinnear played 50 games including the 2003 Grand Final and father-son selection Jaxson Barham was gone after seven.

Matt Scharenberg hasn’t had many chances to prove he was worthy of pick 6. Picture: Michael Klein

Steve Alessio wasn’t recruited via the draft initially, but was picked at No. 67 as Essendon juggled spots on its list late in his career.

ESSENDON

Pick 48 — 1986: Stephen Riley, 1991: Kevin Mitchell, 2010: Alex Browne

Pick 67 — 2008: Tyson Slattery, 2002: Steven Alessio

Pick 81 — Not previously used

The Bombers have only three selections and don’t enter the draft until pick 48 after a series of high-profile trades. Not a lot in the club’s draft history to inspire confidence of a gem; Steve Alessio was a good ruckman who was delisted in 2002 then redrafted with pick 67, playing 16 more games in 2003 before retiring.

FREMANTLE

Pick 2 — 1998: Justin Longmuir, 1999: Paul Hasleby

Pick 5 — Not previously used

Pick 42 — 1994: Doug Headland, 2005: Robert Warnock

60 — Not previously used

Pick 70 — 2013: Matt Taberner (rookie promotion)

Pick 77 — 2006: Caleb Mourish, 2008: Chris Hall

80 — Not previously used

90 — Not previously used

Dockers fans can expect a very good player to arrive via pick 2, especially given the fact Freo nailed this selection the two years it has had it in the past. Paul Hasleby played 208 games, won the AFL Rising Star award in 2000 and All-Australia honours in 2003. Longmuir didn’t reach those heights but played 139 games and kicked a famous post-siren goal against St Kilda in 2005.

Paul Hasleby was a great get at pick 2 in 1999.

Two superstar pick 24s, Steve Johnson and David Wojcinski.

GEELONG

Pick 22 — 2003: Cameron Thurley

Pick 24 — 1998: David Wojcinski, 2001: Steve Johnson

Pick 35 — 1991: Darryl Donald

Pick 58 — 2010: James Podsiadly (rookie promotion)

Pick 71 — 1990: Dennis Ryan, 2000: Daniel Lowther

Pick 86 — 2011: Jed Bews (father-son)

The Cats are the pick 24 specialists — no wonder they were so keen to acquire the selection from Gold Coast as part of the trade deal to bring Gary Ablett home. The player whose name they read out this year will be under a bit of pressure to continue the tradition. James Podsiadly and Jed Bews were smart picks with later selections.

GOLD COAST

Pick 19 — Not previously used

Pick 41 — Not previously used

Pick 50 — Not previously used

Pick 54 — Not previously used

Pick 74 — Not previously used

Pick 88 — 2011: Alex Sexton

Just the one previous selection with any of the six picks the Suns have next week. Sexton (75 games) was a very good get that late.

GWS GIANTS

Pick 11 — 2011: Toby Greene

Pick 27 — 2012: James Stewart

Pick 28 — Not previously used

Pick 57 — Not previously used

Pick 65 — Not previously used

Pick 85 — 2014: Jeremy Finlayson

Pick 93 — Not previously used

The Giants have a short draft history but got their only other shot at pick 11 spot on. Of course it helped that they had 11 of the first 13 picks that year.

Mark Williams was a draft bargain and a trade bust.

HAWTHORN

Pick 43 — 2000: Mark Williams

Pick 68 — Not previously used

Pick 73 — Not previously used

Pick 78 — 1988: Jamie Bond

Pick 91 — Not previously used

Mark Williams didn’t finish his career on a high after being traded to Essendon but he was a gun goalkicker at the Hawks, kicking 60-goals plus in 2005 and 2006. Jamie Bond didn’t play a game for the Hawks but managed one at Fitzroy in 1991.

MELBOURNE

Pick 29 — 1986: Craig Walker

Pick 31 — 1991: Haydon Kilmartin

Pick 36 — 1991: Jason Dullard, 2003: Chris Johnson (father-son), 2011: Rory Taggert

Pick 47 — Not previously used

Melbourne will be hoping to improve its draft record with these picks considering Chris Johnson is the only one of the players listed above to make a senior appearance for the Demons (although Kilmartin later played 10 games for Hawthorn). Johnson made 31 senior appearances before he was delisted at the end of 2010.

NORTH MELBOURNE

Pick 4 — 1988: John McNamara

Pick 23 — 1992: Warren Campbell, 1996: Evan Hewitt, 2000: Drew Petrie

Pick 64 — Not previously used

Pick 76 — 2012: Sam Gibson (rookie elevation)

Pick 87 — 1999: Christian Woodley

Some quirky draft history with the Roos and pick 23, which they have this year for the fourth time. In 1996 they used it on Evan Hewitt, who played 33 games before being traded to Adelaide for ... pick 23. The Roos famously used that on 300-game forward Drew Petrie (Hewitt, meanwhile, was delisted after 15 games with the Crows).

If North Melbourne gets a player as good as Drew Petrie with pick 23 this year, the rebuild is on track. Picture: Michael Klein

PORT ADELAIDE

Pick 46 — Not previously used

Pick 49 — 2007: Mitch Farmer

Pick 59 — 1987: Simon Tregenza

Pick 62 — 2001: Damon White, 2006: Isaac Weetra

Pick 63 — Not previously used

Pick 82 — 2012: Pass

No early picks for Port after its intense trade period and they have never had pick 46 before. Farmer didn’t have a distinguished history on the field but he helped Port get Jay Schulz when he was part of a straight swap with Richmond at the end of 2009.

Mark Coughlan won Richmond’s best-and-fairest as a 19-year-old before injuries cruelled his career.

RICHMOND

Pick 17 — 1986: Trent Nichols

Pick 20 — 2004: Dean Polo

Pick 25 — 2000: Mark Coughlan

Pick 53 — 1987: Andrew Wisken, 1997: Lionel Proctor, 2003: Dan Jackson, 2016: Jack Graham

Pick 55 — 1991: Glenn Hoffman, 1996: Steve McKee, 1998: Mark Dragicevic, 2000: Chris Newman, 2011: Matt Arnot

A pretty handy list considering Richmond’s less than stellar draft reputation. The 50s picks are super impressive, Mark Coughlan was a gun until knee problems ended his career and speedy left-footed Tasmanian Trent Nicholls was a good get considering half the top 20 in the first ever draft never played a game.

ST KILDA

Pick 7 — 1994: Tony Brown

Pick 8 — 1993: Michael Frost, 2003: Raph Clarke

Pick 34 — Not previously used

Pick 45 — Not previously used

Saints fans have high hopes for the club’s two top-10 picks and they have to go back more than 20 years to find any historic parallels. Tony Brown played 108 games including the 1997 Grand Final and was a member of the 1996 Ansett Cup premiership team. Clarke also played in a Grand Final (2009) in his 85 games but Frost played just 11 games after the Saints took a punt on the former Bulldog.

Raphael Clarke after being drafted by St Kilda in 1993.

Lewis Jetta shows off his athleticism at the draft camp.

SYDNEY SWANS

Pick 14 — 2009: Lewis Jetta, 1996: Brett O’Farrell

Pick 33 — 1996: Will Sangster

Pick 51 — 2005: Matthew Laidlaw, 2015: Tyrone Leonardis

Pick 84 — Not previously used

Pick 92 — Not previously used

Lewis Jetta had his moments but was ultimately a disappointment and we don’t remember Will Sangster, who played two senior games. Laidlaw played one and Leonardis zero (although he did cause a surprise controversy when questionable Facebook activity surfaced on draft night). Callum Mills wasn’t pick 33 but the Swans did part with that selection as part of a package to get the draft points to acquire the academy jet.

WEST COAST

Pick 13 — 1997: Callum Chambers, 2005: Shannon Hurn, 2007: Brad Ebert, 2016: Daniel Venables

Pick 21 — 1992: Shane Bond

Pick 26 — 1998: Michael O’Brien, 2003: Daniel McConnell, 2010: Jack Darling

Pick 32 — 2014: Tom Lamb

Pick 37 — 1994: Ashley Blurton, 1997: Todd Holmes, 2002: Brent Staker, 2004: Mark LeCras, 2016: Josh Rotham

Pick 69 — 1990: Gavan Cooney, 1998: Scott Bennett

Pick 83 — 1990: Mark Williams

Some watchers found it surprising that the Eagles stockpiled so many picks in this year’s draft, but clearly West Coast had one eye on the club’s draft history. Lots of good players in that bunch including the current captain. Strangely, two of the Eagles' selections (picks 13 and 37) match their picks from last year.